I resigned one week ago giving the required notice of 4 weeks. My last day is in the middle of the fortnightly pay cycle. Do I have to wait till the following pay day for my termination payout? if so, can I request a breakdown of my termination payment and is the employer obliged to action my reques?Also my resignation was as a consequence to almost 10 weeks of stress as the new principal undermined my work ethics, integrity and honesty through repetitive questioning regarding the business operation under the previous principal. Further more she took awaymany tasks which are part of my job, demanded that I tell the truth when answering her questions and asked her newly appointed Media/PR consultant to question me regarding the last incident which occured on the morning of my resignation date. I don't sleep well, my family life is suffering and I have headaches constantly.Thank you
Hello, and thank you for your question.
Could you please advise whether you were employed by a NSW government body or a private body (this will governed by state or federal employment law)?
If a private organisation, how large (i.e. how many employees roughly?)
Are you a member of a union?
Also can you elaborate on why the principal may have been harassing/bullying you?
I am employed by a Catholic Independent School List D. The School has 63 staff members teaching 51, non teaching 12.
I am not a member of the IEU because as I am the payroll office/HR officer and should be working alongside the employer, I believed it wasn't necessary.
I suspect she believes I am the previous Principal's confidente and am withholding college related information (financial & administrative) and trying to make her transition into the role a difficult one.
Because you have resigned you will generally not have the option of bringing an unfair dismissal claim or similar action in relation to your dismissal.
You may, however, still have grounds to pursue a number of other legal options for compensation, for instance:
- if you can show that your employer acted against in ways which contradicted your employment rights under the National Employment Standards (NES) or your award; or
- if the bullying or harassment was such as to have caused you a demonstrable psychological injury (e.g. clinical depression) in which case your employer may be in breach of occupational health and safety laws.
Because firm advice about your prospects requires a detailed analysis of your circumstances and employment history, you will need to engage a lawyer to assess your case and the available evidence of unfair and improper treatment to get more certain advice. If you are serious about pursuing a claim against your employer, you should engage an employment lawyer ASAP as there are very tight time restrictions for various claims of this sort (as little as 14 days).
If you need assistance locating a lawyer, contact the Law Society of NSW as they can refer you to an employment lawyer in your area.
http://www.lawsociety.com.au/
I trust the above assists your understanding.
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Thank you for the answer so far.
I know I should have probably put in a claim berfore I resigned but my emotional state was such that I had to do what I did. I really believed that I could join the union and ask them to provide me with some advice. I didn't want to do anything to give her cause to make my working life worse. I thought if I do it after I left then there's no risk that she will do something to make me look bad in terms of work ethics. Now the union said that if i am not a member before the issue arised then they won;t help me. Does this mean I am on my own and have no leg to srtand on in relation to this matter. Thanks
You are on your own only in the sense that the union won't help you. Union membership can be very helpful in situations like this, but it is not essential and union members do not have more rights than non-union members, you may still have avenues of recovery, but you will likely need to engage a lawyer yourself.
If you engage a lawyer and fully brief him or her, within an hour or two, they will likely be able to advise whether your prospects of making a successful claim will justify the expense of a legal claim.
Alternately, you could make a general protections claim yourself, however, realistically, without legal representation, your prospects of succeeding son such a claim may be greatly reduced.
http://www.fwa.gov.au/index.cfm?pagename=disputegeneral
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Thank you and good luck.